Beijing
Beijing has changed so much since the last time I was there! I still remember staying in squishy carpeted hotel rooms with cockroaches crawling around the bathroom (ew ew ew). Now the city's covered in greenery with major construction projects in every corner, gearing up for the 2008 Olympics.I was really there for some business, but as it stretched out over the weekend, I was able to re-visit the famous sights. On Saturday, Jan, Stephane and I went to the Forbidden City and its 9000 rooms, Tiananmen Square and took a bicycle cab to the Temple of Harmony. The little girl is Emma, Stephane's cute daughter, wearing the cheong sam I negotiated for 30RMB.
Everything in Beijing is at least 30 minutes away - the city is huuuuge! So don't believe that you can walk anywhere, even when people insist you can - cab, cab, cab all the way.
On Sunday, I woke up early for the 2-hour drive to climb the Great Wall. I quit half-way (I'm getting old...) though it was a good enough vantage point where I was standing to enjoy the view. There were so many people there, I had to wonder if the dead buried underneath mind the stomping, huffing and puffing that go on every single day. Ugh... morbid thought.
The Summer Palace is a bit of a drive, and you have to watch out for drivers who want you to pay more than the meter. But I thought it was much nicer than the Forbidden City. The lake is absolutely fantastic and I loved just sitting by the steps - pure serenity and calm, even in the midst of the chaos that can be Beijing. Time really did seem to stop or at least slow down for a while, relative to the rest of the world.
The food was terrific and the company was easy so it didn't much feel like a work weekend, though Jan did take us to a lot of cultural restaurants, complete with falsetto singing (a lot of yodeling) and dancing. That's my team right there... (standing) Raina, Hiep, Serge, Nair, Billy, Butch, (sitting) Janet, Stephane, me and Edwin. I had a great time going around and if I had stayed a few more days, I'm sure my Mandarin would have dramatically improved.
I was already translating poems (!) in restaurants, bargaining, asking for directions, arguing with taxi drivers and ordering stuff off the menu. I have to say... I was kinda impressed with myself considering I hadn't spoken the language since high school! :) I was even more impressed that my friends trusted me that much, since it was obvious I was relying more on facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate. It's pretty much a miracle that we weren't lost in translation, lost in the city, cheated (at least I don't think so) or didn't accidentally order weird items like cow's head.
If only work was always this fun.
posted by moan @ 6:59 PM
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